Overwatch To Get Animated Shorts & Graphic Novel

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By the time Blizzard’s forthcoming multiplayer first-person shooter Overwatch [official site] arrives at the end of May, it’ll be packing 21 characters. Which is a heck of a lot of colourful, whimsical, unique ability-sporting personalities to get our heads around – however will we keep up? Blizzard reckon a series of animated and digital comic shorts, and a graphic novel will help us learn the histories and idiosyncrasies of the Overwatch cast beyond the game itself. The first of those animations is out later this month and will look a little something like this:

I missed it, but that there behind the scenes teaser apparently ran at BlizzCon last year. Again, the first is due before the end of March and the plan going forward, say Blizzard, is to feed out a few more over the next couple of months in time for the game’s release.

Starring a “vigilante gunslinger” named McCree, Blizzard also plan to release a series of digital comics free-of-charge in April. The first six issues will each focus on a different hero, such as “the deranged criminal duo of Roadhog and Junkrat, as well as Overwatch’s knight from a bygone era, Reinhardt.” Here’s Mr McCree as he’ll appear on April’s front cover:

Last but not least, First Strike is the upcoming Overwatch-inspired graphic novel that’s out “later this year” and takes place during the Omnic Crisis. You know, the global, Judgement Day-esque robot uprising that took place decades before the events of the game? Yeah, that one. Naturally, First Strike delves into the early days of Overwatch, where we’ll learn more about some of the character’s beginnings. I used to be a plumber and gas fitter before I made the switch to games writing – I wonder if Soldier: 76, Torbjörn, Reaper, or Reinhardt did the same before taking up Overwatching?